It's not quite Google Fiber—but white spaces is a step up for underserved areas.

An Internet service provider in California says it has deployed one of "the first commercial application[s] of TV White-Space broadband" to a rural area where many people lack strong Internet access.

The ISP, Cal.net, said in an announcement yesterday that "[o]ver 59,000 residents in our rural service area have had little or no quality Internet access." Many of those could be served with Cal.net's new white spaces network, which uses empty TV channels to send long-range wireless signals. Cal.net built the service using RuralConnect, a set of base station antennas and white space broadband radios made by a manufacturer called Carlson. The latest version of RuralConnect unveiled last month promises speeds of up to 16Mbps, although Cal.net's website promises wireless service of up to just 6Mbps.

Cal.net's white space service is available to businesses and residents in the Gold Country region in central and northeastern California. "The project comprises multiple transmission sites delivering broadband to several hundred heretofore un-serviceable subscribers in El Dorado County," Cal.net said. The company didn't say how many customers it has so far, but it said one business owner is using the service to remotely monitor remote store locations, while a brewery owner is now using white space instead of satellite for video conferencing.

We wrote a story last month about how a solar-powered white space network is bringing 16Mbps Internet service to people in Kenya who lacked electricity. In the US, white space networks have mostly been limited to pilot projects, but a planned spectrum auction could free up more airwaves for such services. The first commercial white space network in the US, in North Carolina, was launched in January 2012.